NBC1f3 News
July 17, 2003

Environmental Agency Prepares To Decide On Incinerator; Opponents Plan To File Temporary Restraining Order

POSTED: 2:24 p.m. CDT July 17, 2003
UPDATED: 3:52 p.m. CDT July 17, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- State environmental officials are preparing to decide whether to approve the Anniston Army Depot chemical weapons incinerator, and opponents are getting ready to take their case to court.

Chemical Weapons IncineratorThe Alabama Department of Environmental Management said Wednesday it had notified Gov. Bob Riley that it is nearly ready to make its decision.

"At this point in the review process we have not documented any issues we're concerned about," said Scott Hughes, a spokesman for ADEM.

Neither the state nor the Army would not estimate when the Army would begin to destroy nerve gas weapons at the $1 billion incinerator in Anniston if approval is granted.

The Calhoun County Commission chairman said he has been told unofficially that work will not begin before October. Opponents said they will file for a temporary restraining order.

Craig Williams, executive director of Chemical Weapons Working Group, a Kentucky-based coalition of groups opposing incineration at eight sites around the country, said he hoped the Army would agree not to operate the furnace until a federal judge decides whether to grant the restraining order.

He said the lawyer for his group, which sued the Army in March, is talking with lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Army intends to incinerate 2,253 tons of artillery shells, rockets and mines stored in earthen bunkers at the Anniston depot. The operation is expected to last up to 10 years and cost about $2.3 billion, including costs of building and operating the plant.

The depot is one of eight sites where the Army has stored Cold War-era weapons containing nerve agents or mustard gas. Under an international treaty, the United States has agreed to destroy the weapons.

Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press.